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Reviewing Eurovision 2017 Entries – Pot 4

Welcome to yet another installment of Eurovision 2017 entries review. In case you’re wondering, the first time I encountered Eurovision was in Wikipedia’s In The News section on the homepage when I was in high school as they would always include the results there. However, I just discovered the beauty that was the voting system back in 2012, and also the euphoric songs. I started following the contest heavily in 2013, and have been watching everything live since 2014. So there! I don’t really talk much about it with others because it’s not even popular here, and get to talk about it only with fellow fans.

There you go with a brief history of my Eurovision obsession(?) and on we go with the reviews. We’re done with Pot 1,Pot 2 and Pot 3, and obviously, we’re moving to Pot 4. It’s the southeastern countries of the continent getting the spotlight, with a relatively central Hungary clumped here as well.

We’ll begin now!

Bulgaria

Kristian Kostov – Beautiful Mess

The youngest contestant in the contest is serving some Hunger Games-soundtrack kind of vibe. His voice shines here in this well-written song that has some chilling and haunting moments care of the modern production. I feel this song is something the likes of Troye Sivan would sing. One of the heavy favorites, I think this is a contender for Top 5 once everything comes together live.

Cyprus

Hovig – Gravity

Cyprus continues to send edgy entries (and also continues to send 2015 national final alumni). It may come off a bit flat production-wise and the lyrics aren’t helping either (and I am quite bothered by his enunciation to be honest), but everything about the song seemingly comes together and for me, that is enough. The music video is a platform for a good staging concept, so they have to make sure they pull it off if recreated onstage.

Greece

Demy – This Is Love

Greece goes back to the more dance-y zone with the gorgeous and talented Demy. The song overall is good, but it sounds like an EDM song from 2012, and how it ended was like how an ad jingle ends. We don’t know its chances yet as Greece with a strong diaspora is recovering from its first semifinal non-qualification, but we once knew from this song that rain falls from above.

Hungary

Joci Pápai – Origo

Hungary is sending the most ethnic-sounding entry this year. Sung in Hungarian with touches of Romani, this song has parts of every emotion imaginable coming from the lyrics, the production, and Joci’s vocals (and rap!). The song is not something I would listen to on a daily basis, but it reeks of quality that it is worthy of qualification.

Moldova

Sunstroke Project – Hey Mamma

Here we have a playful song about your SOs’ moms. It’s quite well-produced and well-sung, but it sounds like another dance track somewhere. Despite that, it appears as a contender for qualification with a limited field of uptempos in their semi. But how well they’ll do will boil down to the live event and the people’s reception to it, including how they missed Epic Sax Guy. (To be honest, I didn’t know Epic Sax Guy was even a meme at first! *hides*)

Romania

Ilinca ft. Alex Florea – Yodel It!

What a way for Romania to come back! They got the diversity brief spot on – yodeling mashed with some Travie McCoy realness might attract lots of viewers in the live shows (apart from their diaspora ofc). Apart from the bridge (which sounds messy for me), everything works, surprisingly. This may be another novelty track that is quintessentially Eurovision, but who cares? Eurovision is also about bringing some unadulterated fun!

We are just halfway through the songs, and I’ll be dishing out my thoughts about the remaining songs in the next ones. Make sure to share your thoughts about these Pot 4 songs as well! Until then, enjoy listening! 😀